Our children MUST live to see their 5th birthday!. Combating pneumonia Lessons from capacity development for pneumonia management in Kenya

We loose approximately 2400 children a day due to Pneumonia which is responsible for about 16 percent of under-five mortality. This means if not combated, our children especially in the subsaharan Africa have no chance of seeing their 5th birthday. In Kenya, according to the county integrated development plans, health facilities lack adequate essential commodities to treat pneumonia and health workers have limited capacities to tackle respiratory illnesses. Like asthma, pneumonia is often misdiagnosed and data is recorded under other respiratory diseases. This causes challenges in diagnosis, management and data for decision making. Amref Health Africa implemented a pneumonia management and control project funded by GSK in sellected counties in Kenya from May 2018 to date. The project seeks to build the capacity of frontline health workers to effectively manage and control pneumonia, strengthen community health systems to increase public awareness, improve the supply chain for increased access to medicines and use evidence for advocacy and to influence action.Thus far, 2,835,038 people have been reached with health education on prevention, control and management of Pneumonia.Already 21,422 put on treatment and manged succesfully. There is improved integrated community case management of pnemonia and other childhood illnesses.Health facilities are actively putting requisitions for commodities and equipment for management of pneumonia. Women of reproductive age have formed mother to mother support groups that enable them to continously share experiences on matterrs health and improving their livelihoods through initiation of income generating activities. In conclusion, capacity building of health workers should be supported with community awareness and matched with supply of the services at health facility level for better health outcomes

Author(s): Sarah Kosgei

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